NetLease - Journal Posting Date Settings

NetLease posts transactions directly to your GL using Custom Transactions. The result is that there are a number of native NetSuite settings as well as NetLease settings that work together to determine how and what gets populated on the transactions. 

A common question is what posting date the lease transactions will use. This article walks through all the different settings and order of operations they are applied in.  

Your options are determined by the current status of your period. Check if the period is Open, Closed, or Locked. Navigate to Setup > Accounting > Manage Accounting Periods. 

Open Period

This means the period is open and there are no restrictions. The Posting Period will follow default behavior. This is indicated with an "unlocked" lock icon across all three rows: 

Default Behavior

By default, NetLease determines the transaction date for monthly entries based on the date of the associated schedule line. For instance, if an amortization entry is tied to a July 2025 schedule line, the transaction will be dated in July 2025.

The exact transaction date varies depending on the type of journal entry. Amortization, modification, closeout, and termination entries will default to the last day of the month (e.g., July 31). However, this behavior can be changed by adjusting the “Default Lease Transaction Booking Day” setting to use a different day of the month, such as the 15th.

Some transaction types follow different rules. 

  • Initial balance entries use the lease commencement date as the transaction date. 
  • Go-live entries are dated using the go-live date. 
  • Reclassification entries are booked on the last day of the corresponding accounting period.

Fully Closed Period

This means the accounting period is fully locked and has been closed. Transactions cannot be posted in a closed period. A closed period is indicated with a checkmark:

In the case of a fully closed period, the system will look at your accounting preferences in NetSuite (Setup > Accounting > Accounting Preferences > General) to determine how/if the entry should be posted. The recommendation for the settings is:

  1. "Allow Transaction Date Outside of Posting Period" – This must be set to Warn or Allow. 
  2. "Default Posting Period When Transaction Date In Closed Period" – Either First Open Period or Current Period can be selected; both options will allow the journal entries to be recorded.
Illustrative Examples

To demonstrate how system behavior varies based on configuration and timing, consider the following examples: 

Assume the current date is August 4, 2025, and amortization entries for July 2025 are being generated as part of the period close process.

  • If the July 2025 accounting period is open, the system will post the transaction with a transaction date and posting period in July 2025.
  • If the July 2025 period is closed and the "Allow Transaction Date Outside of Posting Period" setting is not enabled, the transaction will fail to post. NetSuite will return an error because, with this setting disabled, a transaction dated in July can only be posted to the July posting period, which is closed. Posting to an alternative period is not permitted unless the setting is enabled.
  • If the July 2025 period is closed and the setting "Allow Transaction Date Outside of Posting Period" is enabled, the system will allow the transaction to proceed. The transaction date will remain in July, but the posting period will be determined by the "Default Posting Period When Transaction Date In Closed Period" setting. If both the Current Period and First Open Period are August 2025, the transaction will post to that period.

In a separate scenario, assume the current date is September 4, 2025, and amortization entries for both July and August 2025 are being generated. The July 2025 period is closed, while August 2025 is open.

  • If "Default Posting Period When Transaction Date In Closed Period" is set to Current Period, the July transaction will have a transaction date in July and a posting period of September 2025, since September is the current period. The August transaction will have both a transaction date and posting period in August 2025.
  • If the setting is configured to First Open Period, the July transaction will retain a transaction date in July, but will post to August 2025, the earliest available open period. The August transaction will again post with both a transaction date and posting period in August 2025.

Locked Period

This means the period is not yet fully closed, but AP, AR, and/or all G/L Transactions have been locked. This is indicated with a "locked" lock icon:

When the period is Locked, the system will look at the NetLease system setup option called "Locked Period Posting Preference". 

To see what you have currently selected, navigate to NetAsset > NetAsset Setup > System Setup. Scroll to the Transaction Settings section of the page.

The options are:

Setting OptionBehavior
Do Not AllowWill return an error message until the accounting period is unlocked.
First Open PeriodWill move the transaction to post in the first open and unlocked accounting period.
Selected PeriodWill post ALL transactions selected in the period selected when initiating the transaction processing.
AllowWill allow the system to post the JEs in the locked period so that the transaction date matches the posting period (overriding the NetSuite lock).
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